Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) Shares Gap Up Following Strong Earnings

Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STLD) shares gapped up before the market opened on Thursday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $129.86, but opened at $138.41. Steel Dynamics shares last traded at $136.38, with a volume of 349,932 shares trading hands.

The basic materials company reported $2.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.07. Steel Dynamics had a net margin of 11.10% and a return on equity of 22.89%. The company had revenue of $4.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.18 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.47 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year.

Steel Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.35%. Steel Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.76%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on STLD shares. UBS Group upgraded shares of Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $129.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Steel Dynamics from $131.00 to $129.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Steel Dynamics from $127.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Bank of America raised shares of Steel Dynamics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $140.00 to $155.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Steel Dynamics from $138.00 to $131.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Steel Dynamics presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $142.86.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Steel Dynamics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,604,492 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $534,295,000 after purchasing an additional 152,254 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Steel Dynamics by 7.0% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,138,157 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $276,891,000 after purchasing an additional 140,042 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its position in Steel Dynamics by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,768,333 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $228,999,000 after acquiring an additional 22,390 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management lifted its position in Steel Dynamics by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,410,070 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $182,604,000 after acquiring an additional 53,532 shares during the period. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Steel Dynamics by 21.6% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,137,230 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $168,550,000 after acquiring an additional 202,312 shares during the period. 82.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Steel Dynamics Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 2.35. The company has a market capitalization of $21.04 billion, a PE ratio of 10.94 and a beta of 1.31. The business’s 50-day moving average is $120.15 and its 200-day moving average is $127.55.

About Steel Dynamics

Steel Dynamics, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a steel producer and metal recycler in the United States. The Steel Operations segment offers hot rolled, cold rolled, and coated steel products; parallel flange beams and channel sections, flat bars, large unequal leg angles, and reinforcing steel bars, as well as standard strength carbon, intermediate alloy hardness, and premium grade rail products; engineered special-bar-quality products, merchant-bar-quality products, and other engineered round steel bars; channels, angles, flats, merchant rounds, and reinforcing steel bars; and specialty shapes and light structural steel products.